A celebration of his life with family and friends will occur
in the fall.

The Wrisley Funeral Home, Sugarloaf Street, South Deerfield
has charge of arrangements.

Dr. Herbert (Herb) F.
Hempel

South Deerfield,
MA

On Thursday July 24th our wonderful, loving,
caring and witty father passed away. He was the eternal optimist.

Born in Yonkers,
NY, on June 21, 1920, Herb was
the son of the late Herbert Carl Paul Hempel and Dorothy (Narr) Hempel. Herb lived in Harrington Park, New Jersey
for 46 years before moving to South Deerfield, Massachusetts in December 1997.
Herb was predeceased by his wife Trudy, who died in 2006. They were married for
60 years.

Herb graduated from Colgate
University in Hamilton, NY
in 1940 where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and where he
also played varsity football for the Colgate Red Raiders. He graduated from Cornell
Medical School
in New York City
in December 1943 as a Radiologist. A
United States Veteran, Herb was a Captain in the U.S. Army from June 1945-1947,
stationed at Camp Cook, CA
and at Fort Lewis, WA.

Herb was Director of the Radiology Department at St. Lukes Hospital in New York City
from 1948 to1958 and had a private practice in New York City from 1958 to 1994. He was an
Associate Radiologist at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx,
NY beginning in 1992 until he retired from medicine in 1997 at the age of 78.

A former member of the Bangs
Community Center in Amherst,
Herb attended the weekly New Options discussion group for several years and the
exercise group that met at St. Brigid’s Church in Amherst.

Known as “Gramps” to many, Herb leaves his son, Paul Hempel
of Boulder, Colorado, and his partner Rachel Richards; his three daughters,
Marilyn Stepanovich of Yreka, California, Janice James and her husband Tim, of
South Deerfield, and Karen Barshefsky and her husband Bruce, of Worthington;
nine grandchildren: Jessie Hansen and her husband, Niels, Sam Coonrod and his
wife, Lesli, Chris Coonrod, Amanda Stepanovich, Solana James and her partner
Jesse Laford, Dylan James and his wife Jess, Ryan James and his wife Sarah, Ben
Barshefsky and his wife Jess, and Laura Cocca and her husband Tom; and seven
great-grandchildren: Sarah, Brendon, Ashley, Grace, Luke, Sophia, and Harper. Herb also
leaves many long-time friends including Skip Nay, Bob Zickel, Janet Kosack, as
well as close friends of his children, Bob and Bill Maurer, James Hennessy,
Chuck Wisnyi, Don Vezza, Kristin McCarthy, Steve Hickey, Phil Sperling, Patty
Lewis and Madelyn Battistoni, among many others.

Herb and Trudy traveled often with their friends and he will
be remembered for his zest for life, singing karaoke while on vacations in Rhode Island, and especially
for his wonderful sense of humor. He was
an avid golfer and reader and loved to listen to big band era music and watch
musicals of that era. Herb was a
life-long New York Giants, Yankee, Rangers and Knicks fan. He also out
preformed everyone in Jeopardy!

Herb loved all animals, especially his dogs and
cats. In his memory, contributions can be made to the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society, 163 Montague
Rd, Leverett, MA 01054.

A celebration of his life with family and friends will occur
in the fall.

The Wrisley Funeral Home, Sugarloaf Street, South Deerfield
has charge of arrangements.